L4D2 boycotters flown down to Valve to play the game

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Two members of the Steam L4D2 boycott group, Walking_Target and Agent of Chaos, were recently invited down to Valve’s offices to get some hands-on experience with Left 4 Dead 2.

For weeks, Walking_Target was making constant contact with Valve, emailing them regularly for details about any upcoming DLC updates and bug fixes for L4D1.

Rather than trying to explain themselves via email, Valve decided to invite both Walking_Target and Agent of Chaos down to their offices just to let them see what was going on with L4D2, and to answer their queries about L4D1 personally.

Guess what was their response after their visit?

Walking_Target, in an announcement posted on his boycott group’s page, said “.. we can definitely say that support for L4D is NOT being dropped by Valve and that they are actively pursuing bug fixes for Left 4 Dead”.

“As for L4D2, things seemed balanced and ‘tight’ and did not feel like a rushed job,” Walking_Target said. “What we can say with confidence is that the quality of gameplay in Left 4 Dead 2 is not in question; and it will only get better”.

As expected, the reaction of the rest of the boycott group to Walking_Target’s announcement was less than stellar, with members labelling them as “traitors” and for “selling out” to Valve.

“L4D2 can be good I still don’t care,” said group member Keshiro84. “You two sellouts are just the last PR stunt of Valve for their next game and you ate it all up. Hook line and sinker.”

Keshiro84’s quote does raise an interesting point. Is this a shrewd PR strategy on Valve’s part, or are members of the boycott group just a bunch of sore losers?

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Have your say. Add your comments:

  • Matafleur

    That’s a nasty sweat stain on Gabe’s tshirt!

  • DomeJr

    The fact that the communities of both L4D1 and L4D2 will decrease exponentially, both in the competetive and casual scene, is irrevocably inevitable.

    Majority of L4D players in Singapore AND Malaysia are from my age group, not yours and they lose interest in things as fast as they gain it.

    Valve games in Singapore already have a steadily diminishing community.

    Splitting the community in half was a HUGE concern of the L4DSG community, and the announcement of L4D2, though not explicitly stated, was the main reason many of us quit L4D.

    Not to mention even Gydot himself isn’t too keen on L4D anymore.

    “Everyone will forget that the boycotters ever existed” simply because “everyone” won’t exactly be a lot of people.

    L4D2 boycott was something I didn’t bother joining and it was something I expected to have completely no outcome. But to be honest, the cause they are fighting for is well-justified and very applicable to Singapore’s L4D scene.

  • Glimmerous.Fop

    Pwned.

    Thank you Valve for vindicating L4D2 in the best possible way.

  • DomeJr

    Traitors to their own cause.

    L4D2 Boycotters’ original reason for protest was that it would split the community into two, not that Valve would drop support for L4D1.

  • Glimmerous.Fop

    So what would appease the boycotters then? The cancellation of L4D2? Quite an unrealistic proposition.

    Once L4D2 is released, everyone will forget that the boycotters ever existed. It’s time to accept this fact. If the boycotters don’t want to support the sequel then so be it. Nobody is going to miss them.

  • Glimmerous.Fop

    Pwned.

    Thank you Valve for vindicating L4D2 in the best possible way.

  • DomeJr

    Traitors to their own cause.

    L4D2 Boycotters’ original reason for protest was that it would split the community into two, not that Valve would drop support for L4D1.

  • Glimmerous.Fop

    So what would appease the boycotters then? The cancellation of L4D2? Quite an unrealistic proposition.

    Once L4D2 is released, everyone will forget that the boycotters ever existed. It’s time to accept this fact. If the boycotters don’t want to support the sequel then so be it. Nobody is going to miss them.

  • Matafleur

    That’s a nasty sweat stain on Gabe’s tshirt!

  • DomeJr

    The fact that the communities of both L4D1 and L4D2 will decrease exponentially, both in the competetive and casual scene, is irrevocably inevitable.

    Majority of L4D players in Singapore AND Malaysia are from my age group, not yours and they lose interest in things as fast as they gain it.

    Valve games in Singapore already have a steadily diminishing community.

    Splitting the community in half was a HUGE concern of the L4DSG community, and the announcement of L4D2, though not explicitly stated, was the main reason many of us quit L4D.

    Not to mention even Gydot himself isn’t too keen on L4D anymore.

    “Everyone will forget that the boycotters ever existed” simply because “everyone” won’t exactly be a lot of people.

    L4D2 boycott was something I didn’t bother joining and it was something I expected to have completely no outcome. But to be honest, the cause they are fighting for is well-justified and very applicable to Singapore’s L4D scene.